Chabacano song festival highlights Fiesta Hermosa

THE Chabacano Song Festival, a competition of original Chabacano melodies and lyrics, continues to be a highlight in the Fiesta Hermosa celebration next month.

The deadline for the submission of entries for the song competition is set on September 27.

Now on its 30th year, the Chabacano song competition is one of the City Government’s efforts to preserve the Chabacano language, the only one of its kind in the country and entire Asia, earning Zamboanga the title as “Asia’s Latin City.”

The competition is the brain child of the late Mayor Maria Clara Lobregat, mother of incumbent Mayor Celso Lobregat and who initiated the competition when she was still the president of the defunct First United Broadcasting Corporation (FUBC) in 1982.

Lobregat said the entries for the songfest are to be submitted on or before September 27 during office hours at the Office of the City Tourism at Paseo del Mar or at the Office of the Barangay Affairs in City Hall.

The entries, which should not exceed three minutes, should be original Chabacano songs and lyrics with only guitar or organ accompaniment during the contest proper, according to Lobregat.

Qualified entry or entries are those that have never been submitted as entry/entries in previous Chabacano song festivals; it should be submitted with accomplished entry form of the contest and with corresponding copy of the musical chords and lyrics of the song.

Audition and final elimination will be set after the deadline.

Grand finals will be in October during the Fiesta Hermosa Festival.

The Chabacano Song festival will have for its theme “3 decada de canciones de Chabacano.” (Bong Garcia)